I’ve put together a list of the 10 books I think every man should read.
This list is small because I want it to be manageable. Of course I believe you should read more than just these 10 books listed. But if you haven’t checked all these titles off your reading list, then it’s time to get your butt in gear.
(You’ll notice that some of these books seem to have contradictory messages (Ayn Rand vs. London & Power of Now. 4 hr work week vs. Millionaire Fastlane. Read deeper and form your own opinions and theories from each book. You’ll notice that the different philosophies can work together and the contradictions aren’t so great.)
Please leave a comment with your must read books. (FYI, there are no affiliate links in this post).
Here goes:
- Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) – An epic at over 1,000 pages. It’s entertaining and it’ll also make you want to DO WORK. Take-aways: Work for the sake of THE work. Do good work. Don’t sell out. Entrepreneurism is awesome. Man’s greatest assets are his mind and his ability to reason. (Amazon Link)
- Work the System (Sam Carpenter) – Having systems in your life will mean more money, less work on meaningless, ‘fire-killing’ tasks, and more happiness. The ‘systems mindset’ will change your life & your business mindset. (Amazon Link)
- Millionaire Fastlane (MJ DeMarco) – If you want to be a millionaire, you have to impact millions of lives. Start businesses that solve people’s problems not around your ‘passions’. 401k’s are for pussies. The idea of retiring at 65 is flawed and INSANE. (Amazon Link)
- 4 Hour Work Week (Timothy Ferriss) - Don’t read it for business purposes. Read it for motivation and inspiration to do what you want to do with your life. If you read enough Ayn Rand, you’ll want to work more than 4 hours a week… but on important stuff that’s meaningful to you. (Amazon Link)
- 48 Laws of Power (Robert Greene) - Interesting stories and history lessons on how certain people have come into power. Also a lot of great read-between-the-lines business & relationship/attraction book. (Amazon Link)
- Seawolf (Jack London) – London is a terrific writer. You’ll love/hate/respect the Sealwolf. (Amazon Link)
- Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle) - “You are not your mind.” Live for now. There is no past or future, only now. Lots of good food for thought on the meaning of existence here. (Amazon Link)
- Flow (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) - Optimal experience in life comes from engaging in activities that are challenging but not too overwhelming. Read with the Power of Now and you’ll have new strategies to remain efficient and happy with your work. (Amazon Link)
- Influence (Robert Cialdini)- best book on marketing I’ve read. So applicable to everything we do in life. (Amazon Link)
- How to Win Friends & Influence People (Dale Carnegie) – Sorry, had to include it. Gotta read it. Mandatory. (Amazon Link)
Please leave a comment with your must read books (if they’re different than the ones above). I’d love to hear them.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Anyone who DOESN’T go through all the books in this list is making a huge mistake. Try reading just one (“Influence” is my suggestion for a first) and you’ll be hooked on the idea of reading the rest of them.
I’m not going to add any books to this list since I like the idea of keeping it to 10 “essentials”, but my only suggestion: consider swapping Atlas Shrugged for the Fountainhead. Same author, same general premise. I personally just liked the way Fountainhead conveyed the message.
Or do what most do who read either of the books and like them: read both.
Influence is superb. A great addition is The Slight Edge, Jeff Olson. Personally I think this is THE personal development book to read before all others as it’s so quick and easy to read and highlights the core message of personal growth so well…
Franco.
Thanks for the addition Franco, I’ll have to check it out.
And with this post I unsub from your RSS.
@Chaz thanks for reading. Not sure why this post was the one you didn’t like but sorry to see you go. All the best.
Nice list, I’ve been reading a lot on objectivism recently but not read Ayn Rand’s books, they are already on my wish list, nice to see it #1 on here. The game bioshock is based around her ideas, it’s really great to see it in action.